Valentine's Day or Whatever
by TribalVipe
Summary: Barba hates Valentine's Day until the SVU detectives stick their noses where they don't belong. But it all works out in the end. One-shot.


A/N: Because we all need a VDay fic with our favorite pairing. Plus, I threw in a little Rollisi because why the not? Enjoy :)

* * *

Love was in the air.

And Rafael Barba absolutely hated it.

It was almost like a smell. Everywhere he turned for the past few weeks were images of pink and red teddy bears, giant boxes of chocolates and every store he went into, no matter if it was grocery or liquor, had bouquets of flowers with corny messages attached.

It was making him sick. The 14th of February was tomorrow and it couldn't come fast enough.

He wasn't a total cynic when it came to love, as shocking as that may sound to those around him. In fact, he loved love and he happened to be the kind to fall too fast and too hard at the most inopportune times with the most inopportune people, mostly one-sided and buried in the back of his mind.

It was a predicament he found himself in now, unfortunately. Hence the reason why he couldn't wait until this dreaded holiday was over with.

"Morning," Carmen greeted without looking up, typing one-handed as she held out a stack of papers that needed his signature without looking. He took the stack, noticing the rather large vase of roses and a small box of chocolates sitting next to her work computer.

"Those look nice," he commented dryly, only semi-interested in where she got them as he quickly leafed through the papers and signed off on them. Carmen glanced at the flowers before a small smile split her lips, eyes sparkling in a way that brought his self-pity to a new low.

"Thanks. My boyfriend sent them to me. We have a date night planned for tomorrow but he couldn't wait," she explained, still tapping away at her keyboard but the smile remained. Barba hmm'd in response before throwing the newly signed papers in her to-do bin for her.

"That's great," he sighed, feeling genuinely happy for his assistant. He like Carmen far better than any other assistant he'd ever had and couldn't help but feel generous when he said, "Why don't you take a half day tomorrow?"

Carmen perked up, surprised to hear her work-a-holic boss suggest such a thing. If anything, he had a bad habit of needing her to stay late, so this was somewhat shocking.

"I don't have any vacation time- "

"It's on me," he said and turned on his heel to walk into his office. He merely waved his hand at her thanks before he shut his door and settled in for the day. If he could at least make someone other than himself happy, he would be alright and the sooner he could take his mind off his pathetic, lonely love-life and the stupid holiday that reminded him of it.

It worked for about two hours.

He had thrown himself into his work, immersed in crime scene photos and witness statements, formulating his own theories while considering the detectives when in walked the two most love-struck people he could ever imagine seeing.

Carisi and Rollins weren't fooling anyone, especially him, Fin and the annoyed looking Lieutenant who rolled her eyes whenever Carisi giggled like a little girl at something the blonde haired detective had to say. Barba shared a look with Liv before he looked away, not wanting to acknowledge the little flutter in his stomach at the wide grin she sent him.

God, what was he, a teenager?

But he was happy for the two detectives, even if it made him just the slightest bit miserable. And boy, did he feel like a love-sick, miserable old joke.

"To what do I owe the pleasure," he said sarcastically, leaning back in his chair and sipping at the latte Carmen had brought him back on her morning coffee break.

"Well- "Liv started but was cut off by another girlish giggle from Carisi, Amanda snickering and slapping him on the arm, "You two done flirting?"

The two detectives immediately shut up and took a few steps away from each other, blushes staining their cheeks while Fin just shook his head and mumbled to himself. Liv suppressed an eye roll before she took a seat in front of Barba's desk, giving him her full attention.

"Like I was saying, we got Phillips to talk. He admitted he was in the apartment at the time of the rape and was fully aware of Blake's intentions. We told him we'd work out a plea if he would agree to testify."

"Isn't that my job?"

"Yes, but I already knew that's what you'd do."

Barba chuckled and kicked his feet up, lost in thought for a moment while he doled out the proper punishment for their new lead witness. If he could keep his mind on track, that is. Liv was looking particularly beautiful today. Her hair was pulled up and she wore minimal make-up like always. The bright red blouse she wore really brought out the color of her eyes…

"Shut up," he mumbled, disgusted with himself.

"What?"

He looked over at the woman who was occupying his thoughts, confusion written on her face by his weird outburst. Fortunately, she was the only one who noticed while the other detectives lounged around on his furniture, talking about this or that.

He could feel his cheeks heat up before he dismissed it with a murmured response, "Nothing. Six months' house arrest in exchange for his testifying. That's the lightest I can give him."

"That's what I figured you would say," she joked, winking as she stood up and quickly answered a phone call, stepping away from his desk and towards one of the windows overlooking the city. He watched her, resisting the urge to just sigh and stare at her smiling face.

"Uh…hello? Barba?"

He jumped when he felt a hand clap him on his shoulder, drawing his attention to Fin who had apparently trying to get his attention along with Rollins and Carisi, who were now standing beside his desk and standing way too close to each other.

"Yeah, what?"

"We were asking if you had any plans tomorrow night? Hot date or what?"

He briefly glanced at Liv, who was still on the phone, and immediately regretted it when Carisi followed his eye movement and a look of recognition lit up his face. The internal scream he let loose inside of his head was so loud, he forgot where he was for a second.

"No, nothing like that. I plan on sleeping the night away," he replied dully, putting his feet down and straightening up again. Now, all he wanted to do was throw himself back into his work and forget any of them were ever in his office.

"Ah, c'mon. It's Valentine's Day!"

"And? It's just another overrated, money-driven holiday that doesn't benefit anyone," he said, already writing notes in his notepad and ignoring their existence completely, although he was keenly aware of Liv ending the phone call she was on and joining their conversation again.

"I agree. Completely idiotic," Liv piped up, sitting back down in her seat again and looking like she was getting comfortable, much to his dismay. Not that he didn't want to be around her anymore, but he wanted this conversation to end so he could live out the rest of his work day in peace.

Which reminded him, he was running low on whiskey. Tonight was definitely a whiskey night.

"Say's the two single people in the room," Fin threw out, clearly not including himself in that equation. One of his long-time friends had recently turned into his girlfriend, giving the detective a much needed pep in his step which everyone seemed to notice.

Barba just gripped his pencil harder at the comment, not daring to look up at Liv and her eyes he could feel on his face. Scratch that, it was a 'vodka sipped through a bendy straw' kind of night. College style.

"Anyway, Sonny and I are doubling with Fin and his girlfriend if you guys wanted to come," Rollins suggested, not missing the way Liv squirmed at the words and shot Barba a hesitant look. The lawyer hadn't looked up, but she could tell he tensed a bit at her words.

"Don't you all have somewhere to go? I have work to do on _your_ cases," Barba hissed out, feeling his cheeks heating up again for what felt like the millionth time. Amanda merely smiled and knowingly elbowed Carisi while nodding over at Fin.

None of the actions were lost on Liv, who just rolled her eyes and waved them out of the office. They'd tried pep talking her earlier and she thought she managed to talk the woman out of suggesting they join them out for a Valentine's Day get-together, but she should have known better.

Somehow, she knew Carisi was probably to blame, though. He was the one who recognized her one-sided feelings towards the lawyer first and she almost ripped him to shreds when he mentioned it to her alone in her office one time.

Oddly enough, having the big mouthed detective acknowledge her feelings had made her feel somewhat better though. That is, until, he decided to open his big yap to his now girlfriend and fellow detective.

"Go offer Phillips the deal. He'll take it if he's smart. I'll meet you guys back at the office," Liv dismissed the detectives, waving them out of the room while Barba's head was still down, hunched over his work as he jotted down notes.

Carisi motioned excitedly towards the man, mouthing at her to talk to him before she cut him off, hoping Barba wouldn't notice. Amanda dragged Carisi out of the room after Fin, the three of them silently high fiving each other.

Liv loved them all like they were her own family, but damn could they be nosey.

"Sorry about them," she said a few moments after her detectives left the room and engulfing them in silence. Barba looked up, feeling comfortable enough now that it was just them left in the room. He waved it off and fiddled with the pencil in his hand, unsure of what to say or do next as Liv scratched at the leather material of his guest chair.

"So…were you going to join them tomorrow?"

Liv looked up, surprised he was asking and a little flicker of hope ignited inside her. Could Amanda's words have actually worked? She had to admit, when they brought up the idea, she was convinced Barba was too dense to actually get it. Maybe she underestimated him?

"I don't really want to be a fifth wheel," she trailed, looking at him expectantly. He felt the odd urge to reach over and straighten his tie that was sitting off to the side, looking rumpled and handsome as ever. It was an urge she often repressed whenever he was around and decided he was too confined in his sharp suits.

"Yeah, I can understand that," he replied, nodding, eyes traveling around the room nervously and leg bouncing underneath his desk. The words were on the tip of his tongue. Rollins invitation was very clear and they didn't know it, but he could see Carisi all but push Liv towards him.

He was proud that he was able to keep his excitement from bursting out of his mouth at the revelation, but now he was all tongue tied and awkward and disappointed that her face was falling every second he didn't say something.

Finally, she cleared her throat and smiled sadly at him, standing up, "Well, I better get back to the precinct. I'll call you later if anything further develops."

Liv turned to make her exit, making it halfway to the door before the creaking of Barba's chair caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder to see him standing up, looking at her and his lips trying to form words that wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"You ok?"

"Uh…," he spits out, dropping the pencil on his desk and stepping out from behind it. He took a few tentative steps towards her before he stopped and let his arms dangle pathetically at his side.

"I, uh…I…do you want to go with me, tomorrow, to the thing. The thing that Rollins said was going to happen…like tomorrow?"

Liv chuckled, feeling a warmth bloom in her chest. He looked so ready for defeat, like she was going to turn him down. Fat chance.

"Are you asking me to be your date?"

"Yes. I am."

She crossed the room in a few strides and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. She shuddered at the scent of his skin, the slight stubble that grazed her lips and she suddenly wanted so much more from this man. All of the attraction and desire she felt towards him rushed her all at one and all of the sudden, they were lip locked, hands traveling through hair and down bodies.

And as fast it started, it stopped. Liv rested her forehead against Barba's, his breath mingling with hers in the open space between them. They both shared a smile before they pulled apart, fixing their clothes and hair in record time.

"So is that a yes?"

"Yes," Liv chuckled, fixing his crooked tie, scratching an itch that had been bothering her for a long while now. Barba smiled, grabbing onto her hands a kissing her once more before he let go completely. Behind her he could see Carmen very clearly trying not to look at the scene she had front row seats to and he decided she deserved a nice little bonus for that.

"Well, then, I'll let you get back to work," he backed away, that big grin still plastered on his face until he bumped into his desk and almost fell over. Liv laughed and decided she needed to leave before she forgot about going back to the precinct completely.

"I'll call you later," she said on her way out, giving him one last wink as she disappeared around the corner.

Barba stood there watching the doorway for a solid two minutes before snapping out of it and getting back to work, already planning the perfect outfit and finding out where he could get the biggest bouquet of flowers for tomorrow night.


End file.
